Debut Author

The Anthony Awards 2018 will be handed out at The World Mystery Convention (usually referred to as Bouchercon) in September, 2018. Bouchercon is an annual conference named after Anthony Boucher, a mystery author and critic who helped found the Mystery Writers of America. This event honors various segments of the mystery and crime fiction community.

The nominees for the Anthony Awards 2018 were chosen by attendees at the 2017 convention, as well as early registrants for the 2018 event. The recognized works were published during 2017 and the finalists will be voted upon by the 2018 Bouchercon attendees. The winners will be announced that weekend. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Nominees for the Anthony Awards 2018 are:

BEST NOVEL

"The Late Show" by Michael Connelly

"Magpie Murders" by Anthony Horowitz

"Bluebird, Bluebird" by Attica Locke

"Glass Houses" by Louise Penny

"The Force" by Don Winslow

BEST FIRST NOVEL

"Hollywood Homicide" by Kellye Garrett

"She Rides Shotgun" by Jordan Harper

"The Dry" by Jane Harper

"Ragged; or, The Loveliest Lies of All" by Christopher Irvin

"The Last Place You Look" by Kristen Lepionka

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

"Uncorking a Lie" by Nadine Nettmann

"Bad Boy Boogie" by Thomas Pluck

"What We Reckon" by Eryk Pruitt

"The Day I Died" by Lori Rader-Day

"Cast the First Stone" by James W. Ziskin

BILL CRIDER AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL IN A SERIES

"Give Up the Dead" (Jay Porter #3) by Joe Clifford

"Two Kinds of Truth" (Harry Bosch #20) by Michael Connelly

"Y is for Yesterday" (Kinsey Millhone #25) by Sue Grafton

"Glass Houses" (Armand Gamache #13) by Louise Penny

"Dangerous Ends" (Pete Fernandez #3) by Alex Segura

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Trial of Madame Pelletier" by Susanna Calkins from Malice Domestic 12: Mystery Most Historical

"God’s Gonna Cut You Down" by Jen Conley from Just to Watch Them Die: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Johnny Cash

Thriller writers bring us thrills and chills, keep us awake long into the wee hours of the morning and leave us begging for more. You’re also likely to see many of them on top mystery writer lists all over the world. The 2018 ITW Thrillerfest Awards nominees include terrific titles once again – truly 'stay awake' reads. Take a look at this year’s finalists:

How many have you read? There's still plenty of time to check them out before July.
The 2018 ITW Thrillerfest Award Winners will be announced at ThrillerFest XIII, July 14, 2018, in New York City. Stay tuned! 🙂

Please visit www.thrillerwriters.org for more information about the International Thriller Writers and the amazing programs they have for writers.

As Kris Calvin’s “One Murder More” opens, Sacramento lobbyist, Maren Kane, is having a really tough day. She's driving to a breakfast meeting at the governor’s office and sees a car go over the railing into the water-filled drainage ditch beyond. She and a Good Samaritan stranger are able to rescue two children from a rapidly submerging car, but the woman at the wheel, a famous investigative journalist, is dead on impact. After the accident, Maren continues on to work, and before going home, happens upon a bloodied colleague, Tamara Barnes, in the ladies’ room. And she is decidedly dead.

Two bodies in one 24-hour cycle? Wait. There are a few hours left to this day. Maren’s former intern, Sean Verston (and friend to Barnes) shows up at Maren’s doorstep at 2am to crash on her couch. When Sean is accused of Barnes’ murder, Maren doesn’t believe he could do it and can’t rest until she uncovers evidence that will clear him. It’s not easy to do, because Sean is hiding a secret he refuses to reveal, even to save himself.

Maren’s questions take her in surprising directions as the complex plot unfolds. The people involved and the connections between them could be ripped from the headlines. Who did what to whom, and most importantly, how did they get away with it for so long?

The people in “One Murder More” are well drawn, with intriguing, powerful men, and accomplished, multi-faceted women. Details about the California countryside and its restaurants, as well as the colorful outfits the characters wear, add to this entertaining read.

Kris Calvin’s political insider knowledge of how lobbying works in Sacramento is central to the effectiveness of “One Murder More.” She was an elected public official in California and was known for her work as an advocate for children. Maren Kane is an Ecobabe lobbyist working to pass legislation that would ban the complete use of cellphones while driving- not an easy or popular bill. The cell phone bill storyline is topical in real world discussions and in some States, highly controversial.

“One Murder More” won Silver Falchion awards for Best First Novel, and Best Political Thriller.

Valentine’s Day will be here soon! Love is in the air, with bouquets of flowers, tasty chocolates, and romantic gestures melting our hearts. The Season of Sighs is upon us.

This year, I put out an open call for writers to tell me about their squeaky clean romance novels, novellas, and short stories. There are mysteries with a touch of romance, historical romance, inspirational romance, and more, with links to all the books. Click on the 35 titles to find the 'buy' pages, with information about each story. You will find bestselling authors as well as debut authors.

The winners for the Agatha Awardsfor 2017 Books (named for Agatha Christie) have been announced. The awards were bestowed upon mystery and crime writers at the annual Malice Domestic conference in late April, 2018. The nominated books were first published in the United States by a living author between January 1 and December 31, 2017.

The Agatha Awards recognize the "traditional mystery," meaning that there is no graphic sex and no excessive violence in the writing. Thrillers or hard-boiled detectives cannot be found here, but instead, picture Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot at work.

Best Historical Novel “In Farleigh Field” by Rhys Bowen
“Murder in an English Village: A Beryl and Edwina Mystery” by Jessica Ellicott
“Called to Justice: A Quaker Midwife Mystery” by Edith Maxwell
“The Paris Spy: A Maggie Hope Mystery” by Susan Elia MacNeal
“Dangerous to Know: A Lillian Frost and Edith Head Novel” by Renee Patrick

Best First Novel
“Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery” by Micki Browning
“The Plot is Murder: Mystery Bookshop” by V.M. Burns“Hollywood Homicide: A Detective by Day Mystery” by Kellye Garrett
“Daughters of Bad Men” by Laura Oles
“Protocol: A Maggie O'Malley Mystery” by Kathleen Valenti

Best Nonfiction “From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon” by Mattias Boström
“The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books” by Martin Edwards
“American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land” by Monica Hesse
“Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction” by Jess Lourey

“Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier” by Tatiana de Rosnay

Best Short Story
“Double Deck the Halls” by Gretchen Archer
“Whose Wine is it Anyway” by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place” by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” by Gigi Pandian
“A Necessary Ingredient” by Art Taylor in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat

Established in 1997, the Barry Awards are presented at the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, this year held in Florida, in the USA. Voted on by readers of the Deadly Pleasures mystery magazine, the award was named in honor of Barry Gardner, an American critic and lover of great crime fiction. The winners of the Barry Awards – 2018, will be announced September 6, 2018 during the Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies.

Each year, the Mystery Writers of America honors the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television, published or produced the previous year. This year, on the 209th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the winners of The Edgar Awards – 2018 were announced at the Gala Banquet held in New York City, on April 26, 2018.

Here are the nominees (and winners indicated in red) for the prestigious Edgars:

BEST NOVEL

“The Dime” by Kathleen Kent

“Prussian Blue” by Philip Kerr

“Bluebird, Bluebird” by Attica Locke

“A Rising Man” by Abir Mukherjee

“The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

“She Rides Shotgun” by Jordan Harper

“Dark Chapter” by Winnie M. Li

“Lola” by Melissa Scrivner Love

“Tornado Weather” by Deborah E. Kennedy

“Idaho” by Emily Ruskovich

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

“In Farleigh Field” by Rhys Bowen

“Ragged Lake” by Ron Corbett

“Black Fall” by Andrew Mayne

“The Unseeing” by Anna Mazzola

“Penance” by Kanae Minato

“The Rules of Backyard Cricket” by Jock Serong

BEST FACT CRIME

“Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” by David Grann

“The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple” by Jeff Guinn

“American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land” by Monica Hesse

“The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery” by Bill and Rachel McCarthy James

“Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case that Captivated a Nation” by Brad Ricca

For nominees and winners in the categories of BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL, BEST JUVENILE, BEST TELEVISION TELEPLAY, as well as the recipients of specialty awards, please visit www.theedgars.com/nominees